Development of a digital self-powered wayfinding beacon to support people with visual impairment and reduced mobility with indoor navigation

Lightricity的目标是开发一种轻型定向信标产品，使将视力和行动不便的人纳入室内导航系统在实际和经济上都是可能的。我们将把我们的专利、高效的室内光伏(光伏)技术和新颖的电源管理架构应用于高度小型化的无电池定向信标设备。这些免维护设备将部署在灯具上，以确保有足够的功率进行快速信标和附加传感器，以提供所需的位置和其他信息的准确性，从而实现视障人士的音频引导和智能路线，以帮助视障人士和行动不便的人通过最容易接近的路线和避开障碍物独立导航。我们的解决方案将解决目前阻碍物联网导航解决方案提供商提供包容性服务的寻路解决方案的局限性。通常，他们在医院、交通枢纽、购物中心、办公室和其他公共建筑等大型建筑中使用电池供电的信标进行室内导航/寻路解决方案。放置在建筑物固定位置的数十万台这样的设备可以直接与客户的手机通信，帮助他们在基于App的建筑物地图上导航路线。由于必须每6-12个月更换电池以维持所需的信标频率和系统精度的高运营成本，这些电池供电的信标不能以足够大的密度或附加的传感功能来添加更全面的功能。

Lightricity aims to develop a light-powered wayfinding beacon product that makes inclusion of visually and mobility impaired people in indoor navigation systems both practically possible and economically viable.We will apply our patented, highly efficient, indoor PV (photovoltaic) technology and novel power management architectures to highly miniaturised battery-free wayfinding beacon devices. These maintenance-free devices will be designed for deployment at light fittings to ensure sufficient power for rapid beaconing and additional sensors in order to provide the required accuracy of location and other information that will enable audio guiding of the visually impaired and smart routing to help both the visually and mobility impaired navigate independently via the most accessible routes and avoiding obstacles.Our solution will address the current limitations of wayfinding solutions which are preventing IoT navigation solution providers from offering an inclusive service. Typically, they use battery-powered beacons for indoor navigation/wayfinding solutions in large buildings such as hospitals, transport hubs, shopping centres, offices and other public buildings. Hundreds to thousands of these devices placed in fixed locations in a building communicate directly with customer's mobile phones, helping them navigate routes on an App-based building map. These battery-powered beacons cannot be deployed at great enough density or with additional sensing function to add more inclusive functionality due to the high operational cost of having to change batteries every 6-12 months to maintain the required beaconing frequency and system accuracy.